Student laptop firm claiming it lost contracts with 20 schools to rivals drops injunction
An Irish ed-tech company, Olive, has dropped a temporary injunction against former employees and rival firms after accusing them of commercial sabotage. The legal dispute centered on allegations that former managers used confidential information to poach school contracts.
Why it matters
This case highlights the legal complexities surrounding non-compete agreements and the protection of trade secrets in the competitive education technology sector.
An ed-tech company has agreed to drop a temporary injunction it obtained last week after it complained that it lost 20 schools and contracts worth €1.6 million after its former managers joined a rival company.
In the High Court last week, barristers for Olive, a trading name for Upskill Online Ltd, obtained wide-ranging orders that prohibited Eduvolve and related companies from marketing or providing any educational services to any school that worked with Olive. The order also restrained the defendants from disposing of some €15,000 worth of IT equipment under dispute.
Judge David Nolan granted the interim injunction after reading the affidavit of Brendan Kavanagh, Olive’s chief executive and founder, who complained that his former colleagues were unlawfully using Olive’s confidential information to poach schools.
The judge was satisfied there was a prima-facie case of “commercial sabotage”.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in